Almost a year after Ticketmaster and Live Nation announced their intention to combine into one massive megacorporation, setting off a thorough anti-trust investigation, the U.S. Read the full post.
Jan 26
2010
11:39 AM ET
Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger approved: What's in it for you?
- Comments 70
- Add comment
What’s amusing about all this bashing LN & TM are getting in the press is that really it’s the artists, yes, that wonderful band that you think can do no wrong, who ultimately sets ticket prices. And, if they want to, ticket service fees too. There aren’t many acts that have the leverage to mess with service fees, but the acts on their way up or at the top who want to stay there (Phish, Dave Matthews, etc…) have traditionally capped the service fee that can be charged. Whereas many big name artists pull right up to the trough and have a few dollars added to the service fee as part of their contract, and they pocket those few dollars.
And even pre-merger, promoters and venues have all had their agreements with TM whereby they participated in the service fee revenue. And these arrangements were made in a manner that encouraged higher fees. Example, for any fee over $6 p/ticket, the two parties split the revenue 50/50. If it was lower, than $6, the promoter or venue got less, but TM still got their minimum of $3. So for the promoter or venue, there was never much incentive (other than cultivating a loyal concert going audience, which many promoters have done) to lower the fees. The reality today is that the artists are so much more aware of all those ancillary arrangements that they too are looking for a piece of that revenue. They may not get it out of the ticketing fees, but they get it out of the guarantee. In other words, they charge the promoter more money to play the date when they know there’s money on the side they’re not seeing. And when the guarantees go up, so too do ticket prices. And the fan getting hosed? Priceless.
So is this deal a good one for consumers? You’re at least 10 years too late to be asking that question (go research SFX Entertainment). Is it good for the competition (ie, Indy promoters)? Not really.
Is it good for big acts? Yes. Is it good for club acts? Outside of half a dozen cities, LN doesn’t book clubs, so it’s not likely to be a factor.
Will we see dynamic pricing? Of course, that was coming any way, merger or no merger. Will LN/TM have more control over the secondary ticket market? You betcha. And they’ll share that revenue with the artists. But again, that activity exists already. LN is the the party investing in the talent by guaranteeing them considerable talent fees. And the talent is the party laying their career on the line. So to the extent they can participate in the revenue generated in the secondary market, it’s more theirs than anyone elses.
Live music is a wonder and it only gets served fresh, but you don’t need to go to the arena for a healthy dose. Many have said it here already. Seek out the local clubs. The shows there are just as magical, if not more so than anything you can see at the “sold our venue name to a bailed out bank” arena. Plus, it’s in the clubs where the promoters are developing talent and respecting the fans.
One issue which seems to have been overlooked is the consumer makes the ultimate decision. If you’re not happy with the convenience fees, etc., don’t buy the ticket! That is the most effective way of getting your point across. The sad thing about all of this is, the artists, promoters, venues, etc. have lost sight of what used to be special about concerts – they were an event that was affordable. You didn’t have to mortgage your house to buy a couple of tickets. Sadly, I don’t see a return to those days anytime soon.
Who goes to concerts anymore besides the Hanna Montana and Jonas Brothers middle school kids and their parents? Watch concerts online or on Palladia (sp?) – Stop showing up to concerts, the artists will wonder where everyone is and find out about the Service fee scams and fix things…until then, screw em all.
The ticket prices and fees are too expensive for sure, but that is not the real problem. Legalized Scalping is the real problem behind ticket prices. The price is primarily determined by demand which is falsely increased by “sell outs” in a very short time. most of the tickets go to scalpers that are not going to go to the concert or even live close enough to the venue to go if they wanted to. The scalpers then sell the tickts on e-bay/craigs list for 5x, 10x or even 20x the face value. when did this become legal?!?!? and aren’t the musicians, record companies, promoters etc supposed to get a % of that!!
The solution is simple. see live music in a local club. buy your tickets at the door or by calling the club directly. you get to actually see the performers. Its a much better way to go to a concert.It also gives you a chance to buy a CD/DVD/blue-ray from the performer themselves so they can keep more profits rather then record stores or amazon…. This will really work well if performers produce record and distribute their music themselves over the internet and people buy directly from them so the big companies will stop making such huge profits for selling something they didn’t make.
oh how i hate ticketmaster! where i’m from we have this venue that alot of bands come to..its nothing special, hold probably around 1000. but the only way you can get tickets is through ticketmaster. we went and saw owl city a couple weeks ago and the tickets were 18, with service charges of 10.50. thats over HALF of the original ticket. and its not some huge stadium place, its a crappy club.
and i can’t believe they are stupid enough to think that we are actually gonna believe that they will lower prices. its a bad day for live music lovers.
Support your local musicians and venues!
I guess it sucks…good thing we have millions of independent artists in the world that are often times way better than this mega-conglomerates “talent.”
Because people are tired of paying high ticket prices to see their favorite artists perform in concert! I am pleased that this merger was approved!
Im glad that a good portion of the bands I like sell their tickets for Artist Arena, who doesnt charge huge convenience fees. What I don’t understand is why TM or LN charge higher fees the more expensive the ticket is, shouldn’t there be a base price?
Ticketmaster/Live Nation in 2012!
This will not lower prices it will hurt us more as we all can see. price hikes!!!!
Interesting post and view, hope to hear more what the future holds THANKS Great post. Probably saved thousands of hours between everybody here. For me,this clearly is a heads up on which methods to focus on to maximise my online success . I��ll start concentrating on your other articles instead. Really great advice. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for any other informative blog. The place else may I get that kind of information written in such an ideal way? I’ve a project that I am just now operating on, and I’ve been at the glance out for such information.